Give us feedback and become a Rookie Mom

This is a wonderful resource-terrific idea, and thanks for doing it! I only wish this had been around 2 years ago when I had my daughter, but I have already informed new and local moms about this site. I just moved to Alameda, so I’m glad to have some ideas for stuff we can do locally.

I love it! This is fun! Yay for other mommies!

My contribution is that my daughter, Zaia, LOVES the Lisa Loeb CD, “Catch the Moon.” It’s great b/c it’s kid’s music that doesn’t make the units want to tear out their hair. It’s on two ipods and burned onto 3 discs in our home, ready for sleep emergencies. Woohoo!

Hello!

I’m moving with my 4 month old daughter and husband to SF (downtown area) for a couple of months since he is on a short-term project there for work. I would like to join a mom’s group while hubby is working. Any ideas? This is my first time to SF area and we are from Toronto, Canada.

great site ladies!
it is clear you have had fun together developing this wonderful site. question: will you be putting your recommended products / brands on here so that new moms can know what is a necessary splurge (or shower registry requet) vs. those items that should be purchased 2nd hand or not at all or generic, for example.

always a fan,
michelle in pittsburgh

Since I am also an East Bay (Oakland) mompreneur, I would like to submit my baby website, POSH BABAN, for consideration to both you and your website visitors. Posh Baban, a high-end baby boutique specializing in unique and luxurious infant clothing and gifts, offers items such as cashmere babywear, imported outfits, personalized layette sets, unique baby shower gifts, sterling silver, Christening gifts, custom wall art, and more. Plus, we offer the largest selection of designer BedHead pajamas for moms.

I am the owner, and I would like to inquire about possibly having some items listed on your Shopping List.

With your permission, I have added a link of your site onto the Posh Baban website – See: http://www.poshbaban.com/pages.asp?pid=links

I look forward to hearing back from you soon.

- Laura

I love the site and have been back here a number of times in the past week trying to find an email address for one or both of you. If you would be willing to send me a quick email, that would be great. I want to ask if you would be willing to act as advisors on a mommy blogging project. Thanks!

-alison

This is a great site! I wish I’d come across it sooner… Thanks for all the valuable info!

I have a suggestion for you in the “Photos” category. Instead of writing and sending paper cards, we’ve been doing most of our thanking via photos and e-mail. Sometimes my son models a gift, and sometimes he’s just saying hi. And each time, we pose baby with a hand-written card, and it seems to be a big hit. Here are examples of photos we’ve taken. This works well for birthdays, holidays, and any other occasion where you’d send a card. It’s a great time-saver for us busy moms!

P.S. I recently moved from San Francisco back to my hometown of Ottawa (Canada) but I do miss that California sunshine!

Came across your site after visiting the Cool Mom Picks site and wish we had a resource like this here in Sacramento! I’ve only browsed a bit here and there since I’m blessed with a precious moment where both of my children are sleeping! Yay baby! However, I think you have some great ideas and clever crafty bits, too… oh and, btw, I don’t think you’re geeky at all!

Thanks!

Ann Marie

Hi there,
You guys are hilarious, the site is great and I’ve definitely shared it with many other moms (I have a 9 month old). My mother is a friend of Marilyn Currier and she shared it with us initially, I think I may have gone to school with Ryan??? Not sure, what a terrible memory I have!!! Glad you both are having so much fun with your kids!

On another note though…my mother (former music teacher) and I are producing a unique children’s song CD – can’t give you the details now since it won’t be complete likely until late July/August. I did want to give you some food for thought though in the meantime — are you at all interested in offering items for sale through your site (I’m seeking cheap advertising venues, you wouldn’t believe what the Parenting-type magazines cost and this is not exactly a “big money making” venture)!!! Likely it would just point people to Amazon or Ebay to make the actual buy but I’d love to at least post a note about the new CD…

Think about it and let me know! I could send you a copy to review first of course!

Thanks and keep up the great work — the website is great but you should also think about putting this into book form at some point (an easy reference for moms to have on hand…perhaps “chew-proof” pages would be helpful)!!

Robyn

This site looks great (though, I admit with a three year-old and a two-year old I haven’t had much time to read through all the activities)! Here’s my suggestion – park reviews (maybe you already have this somewhere). What parks are great for what age kids and where are they located? You guys could create a ranking system and have other moms enter their rankings as well (maybe a five-star ranking system) which could include things like ease of parking, structure quality, bathroom cleanliness, safety (i.e. can your toddler easily run out into a street?), etc. Because honestly, once the rain stops and the kids start to walk, it’s all about the parks(cheap, free and outdoors).

I thought you guys would be interested in this article, and webiste if you are interested in European travel with your family.

Destination: Family
By Kimberley Lovato

If the idea of traveling around Europe with a toddler in tow sends shivers up your spine, fear not. Help is on the way. Traveling mom Amie O’Shaughnessy has walked a mile (and pushed a stroller and carried a diaper bag) in your shoes.

As a result of her own experiences and what she says was a lack of quality options, O’Shaughnessy launched Ciao Bambino, a company dedicated to providing tools to families who want to travel internationally.

“International travel can be intimidating. The plane trip first, then a different language,” she said. “But it doesn’t need to be at all.”

O’Shaugnessy seems to have found her niche helping countless clients from all over the world plan their dream vacations since launching in June of 2004. She has tapped into what she says is a growing trend towards family oriented vacations, as well as a trend towards exposing children to other languages and cultures at an early age.

“Wherever you are from in the world, traveling with kids presents the same universal needs,” said O’Shaughnessy.

For a one-time consulting fee of $200, O’Shaughenessy goes above and beyond just finding clients a nice place to stay. O’Shaughnessy visits each location personally, and accommodations range from self-catering villas or apartments, to hotels with suites or joining rooms. All establishments must meet a stringent checklist to get the Ciao Bambino stamp of approval. Separate living space, kitchens, proximity to a medical facility, a grocery store and a play area are just a few of her criteria.

Ciao Bambino’s ‘been there-done that’ advice was just what Janet Miller of Philadelphia needed. Miller and her husband traveled this summer with their three children (all under the age of five) to Italy, and visited Tuscany, Rome and Pompeii.

“Both my husband and I love to travel and made the decision that if we waited until the children were old enough, we would never go anywhere,” said Miller. “So we decided to continue our travels, allowing our kids to experience different cultures.”

Initially Miller tried to plan the trip on her own, but wading through the volumes of information on the internet left her with more questions than answers. O’Shaugnessy was able to find them accomodations, organize tours and transportation, recommend restaurants, find a babysitter, and create an itinerary that Miller said was doable and realistic, even with three little children.

“Using Amie really made things easier,” explained Miller. “Her experience and knowledge was a great resource to draw upon.”

O’Shaughnessy listens to every request, but admits it can be difficult to meet them all. “Everyone has different priorities,” she said. “For some it’s a kitchen, for others might be location or activity. I provide choices.”

For stay at home mom Salish Donald, 34, of New York City an easy place to stay with the kids was her most important concern. She and her husband took their two children, age three and one, to Tuscany in July, and joined family members with a three year old and a one month old.

“The villa was not so fancy that we felt like we had to worry about whether the kids were going to tear the place up,” said Donald. “Amie even had age appropriate toys delivered to the house. It was probably one of the most relaxing vacations we have ever had.”

O’Shaugnessy’s reach goes beyond just families with very young children. Her vast network of contacts enables her to create enriching itineraries for families of all ages and interests.

According to client Matthew Irmas of Los Angeles, O’Shaugnessy managed to arrange a “full-service” itinerary that even accommodated his two teenage sons vastly different interests in art and architecture, and sports respectively, as well as arrange for tour guides and private cooking classes for he and his wife.

“A great thing about Amie is her flexibility,” said Irmas who used Ciao Bambino for a family trip to Venice last month. He says O’Shaughnessy’s ability to adapt and find activities to meet his family’s needs really made their trip.

This, says O’Shaughnessy, is a key element in successful vacation planning.

“It is important to remember that when you travel as a family, it is not just an adults only or kids only vacation,” she explained.

To date, Ciao Bambino has helps clients travel to Italy and France but there is a lot of demand for expansion to other countries. She hopes to add the United Kingdom and Spain to her list in the near future.

Traveling has been life-long love for this 37-year-old voyager and mother, and she has proven that you need not sacrifice your passion for travel for your passion for family.

“My priorities obviously changed when I had my son, but I didn’t want to give up international travel,” said O’Shaughnessy.

Thanks to Ciao Bambino, your family, too, can have the best of both worlds.

Hi ,
I love your site and get inspired often by all your suggestions.
I wanted to share couple tips I recently used. The first one is to sew the bottom of cotton leggings in order for my toddler to have pj bottoms with feet. The key is to use a size bigger than what your child is wearing at the moment. You can’t find pj with feet past 12ms so here I sew…
the second is to draw little faces on the tips on my fingers to make little finger puppets. On our last car trip over 2 hours, my girl got restless and cranky and was delighted to repeat their names and then guess where each of them was, after I closed my hand.
thanks
Sylvaine

Hello, I think this a wonderful site! It’s too bad my boys are 2 and 3 already, but I will definately pass it on the new moms that I know!
Under your shopping section I think you should include baby formula dispensers. I carried around a huge can of formula with me whenever I left the house with my little guys until another mom gave me one of her formula dispensers. I loved it and appreciated her telling me about them.

I found this website on the Babycenter.com Board. I have to say I really enjoyed many of your tips and trip ideas. Unfortunately I do not live in the Bay Area, so I can’t take advantage of all the cool stuff there. Anyway, here in NYC there’s similar events. Overall, I love this site, put it on my favorites right away and will check it frequently. I have already compiled a list of things to do with my 3 month old son Munir. If you run out of things (fat chance), I’d appreciate preemie topics, since my son was a 34 weeker. Thanks for taking the time to put this together.
Renee

Yo Whitney! Wow! Was just doing my normal “old friend stalking” and found your site! (which I will be needing in a couple years so keep it up!)

You and the kid are sooo cute. Congrats on everything! I hope all is well and that your new year brings good tidings.

-ethan

I read your blog on a feed reader. Recently it changed from being able to read the whole entry on the reader to only a small portion of the entry. I rarely click over to read the whole entry and I will probably stop receiving your blog because of this. If it is possible can you please switch it back. I really enjoy your blog.

I love your site! What great ideas and information. Ever thought of venturing into the world of multiples? I’m a Mom to 8 month old triplets, and would love to pull together some ideas from other multiples’ Mommies to share here. So, what do you think?

Yeah!!!

I love this website! Good job ladies! I look forward to many hours of happy meandering on this site!!!!

Hello Rookie Moms,
I have a great idea for an activity for both mom and kids to enjoy. I am a stay at home mom of two kids, Louis and Sophie. My husband is fluent in Spanish and we made a commitment to raise our children bilingually. However, I do not speak Spanish and since I was home with the kids I wanted to find a way to have them hear Spanish while dad was at work. I joined forces with my sister-in-law and we created Professor Pocket, a bilingual children’s entertainment company. We just released our first full length bilingual CD that uses music and storytelling to entertain and teach both you and your child. It’s an interactive CD and is something you can do with your kids that is easy, fun and educational. We would be happy to offer a special discount to all Rookie Mom readers. Please check us out at http://www.professorpocket.com.